


winners

by ZephyrEden



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Canon Compliant, Gen, are they okay, can i bring them a snack, have they eaten, i swear every time i write these fools i love them more and more desperately, its because you made him wear that trashy coat mom its a curse, nomura please tell me where they are, pre foreteller nonsense or at least pre unions and shit, they friends they be goofin, why is luxu always excluded it makes me sad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-22
Updated: 2019-01-22
Packaged: 2019-10-14 06:11:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 741
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17503133
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZephyrEden/pseuds/ZephyrEden
Summary: there's winners, there's losers, and sometimes there's just them.my piece for the Ties That Bind zine.





	winners

“ _Ira_!”

“No magic, Aced!” Gula yells immediately, his hands cupped around his mouth to make sure his voice carries. “Don’t break your own stipulations!”

Aced halts with an annoyed grunt. He clenches his fist, extinguishing the heavy energy that was pulsating from his fingertips. He’s starting to wish he hadn’t called for that caveat.

“Is this the part where you gracefully admit defeat?” Ira goads, a challenging smile pulling at his lips. Aced roars and Ira laughs, always amazed by how easy it is to get a rise out of his best friend.

“Never!” Aced’s grip on his keyblade tightens, his nails digging into his empty palm as he curls his fist in more. He and Ira almost always have their score tied, but if he loses this fight he knows that will put Ira ahead by two. It makes the urge to use magic all the more tempting.

“Oh yes, I forgot,” Ira continues to tease, “graceful is something you never learned the definition of.”

He’s fuming, ready to reel his arm back and use his keyblade as a boomerang if only to take Ira by surprise.

“Come on.”

Aced’s head snaps to the side, confused when he sees Gula approaching only to stop once he’s standing beside him.

Gula summons his keyblade and looks up to offer an expression halfway between a reassuring smile and a teasing smirk. “Magic might be banned, but backup isn’t, right?”

“Strength in numbers, a fitting strategy,” Invi agrees, taking up Aced’s other side.

Ira sighs. “Invi, not you, too.”

Invi’s face stays carefully schooled, but the playful energy buzzing off of her is palpable. “Consider this payback for our last spar.”

Ira laughs hesitantly, swallowing around the lump in his throat. So maybe he shouldn’t have used magic to create several illusions of himself before quite literally stabbing her in the back. He thought she would have appreciated his stealth maneuver. Apparently not.

She summons her keyblade, perfectly steady despite the yellowing bruises along her spine. “I think you’ll find that magic won’t be necessary in order to defeat you.”

No, he supposes it won’t. Still… “Three against one?” He’s definitely _not_ pouting at the odds, but it doesn’t stop the smallest twist from contorting his lips. “That seems a bit… unfair.”

“Oh?” Invi calls, bemused. “We’re talking about fairness now?”

“Don’t worry, Ira!” Ava calls, at his side and ready to attack whenever he is. “I’ve got your back!”

Aced takes a quick moment to look around before he grins, his grip on the keyblade no longer tense. As soon as he readies his weapon, they charge.

“Looks like they’re having fun down there.”

Luxu jolts at the sudden sound of the Master’s voice behind him. He looks over his shoulder to find him looming above him, his gaze focused on the sparring match down below. When the Master doesn’t do anything else, he turns back.

The clocktower provides a good view – tall enough to get a bird’s eye view, but far enough away to go unnoticed. Luxu’s legs sway with the breeze as they hang through the bars and over the edge, his hands content to grasp the handrail instead of a keyblade.

“You could go down there, you know,” the Master says as he watches his apprentices fight. They’ve gotten good, exceptionally so. Even split up into different teams than they normally find themselves in, their teamwork is flawless, stupendous. “Even the odds.”

Luxu shakes his head, his hands slipping down the railing until they settle in his lap. His hood makes sure his smile is hidden under the cover of shadow. “They’re fine. Besides,” he slips his legs back under him, pushing up to stand. “I think I prefer observing from the sidelines.”

The Master laughs. “No kidding? Me too!” He slaps Luxu’s back and he stumbles forward from the force with a stunted chuckle. “Some people just aren’t meant for the battlefield.”

Luxu lets the Master lead him back inside until he hears an eruption of cheers. “I wonder who won…” he mumbles idly, more to himself than anything else.

“Hm?” The Master’s interest is piqued for a moment, turning his head slightly in the direction of the battle. There’s five voices overlapping, all of them loud. Shouting, cheering, laughing, yelling – a cacophony of good-natured noise.

The Master chuckles as he turns back, walking inside ahead of Luxu. “By the sound of it, I’d say they all did.”

**Author's Note:**

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